On a windswept stretch of coastline, researchers believe a small strip of light beneath a surfboard could change everything.
The idea sounds almost too simple: add LEDs to the bottom of boards and kayaks, and make great white sharks think twice before biting. Yet an Australian team says this visual trick, tested off South Africa, may sharply reduce mistaken attacks on humans.
How a strip of light could save surfers
The research comes from Macquarie University in Sydney and was published in the journal Current Biology. The scientists focused on one core problem: great white sharks often mistake surfers for seals when they see them from below.
When a surfer paddles out, their silhouette against the bright surface can resemble a seal, a favourite prey of great whites. The team led by marine biologist Laura Ryan set out to disrupt that silhouette using light.
By changing the way a surfboard looks from below, LEDs can turn a seal-shaped shadow into something sharks do not recognise as food.
In sea trials at Mossel Bay, South Africa, the researchers attached LED systems to decoy “seals” and tracked how sharks reacted. They experimented with several lighting patterns before landing on the most effective design.
Why horizontal LED strips confuse sharks
At first, the team tried covering the entire underside of the board with light. It worked visually but drained too much power and was awkward to use in real conditions.
The breakthrough came with simple horizontal light strips. By running LEDs across the width of the board instead of along its length, the researchers changed its apparent shape when viewed from below.
Ryan explains that to a shark’s eye, those horizontal bands make the object look broader and less elongated. The classic long, dark outline of a seal almost disappears.
Horizontal LEDs make the board appear wider than it is long, breaking the seal-like outline that triggers a predatory strike.
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In test runs, sharks approached the lit decoys less often and showed more hesitation when they did. That suggests their visual system no longer flagged the target as a familiar prey item.
What we get wrong about great white sharks
Ryan has spent years studying why great whites attack humans. Her work points to a surprisingly simple reason: their eyesight is limited and not particularly sharp compared with ours.
Great whites rely on a mix of senses — smell, electroreception, and vision. In murky or low-contrast conditions, their eyes struggle to pick out fine details or colours. From below, a paddling surfer against the glare of the surface becomes a dark blob with flippers. That is close enough, visually, to a seal.
This is where culture and science collide. Films such as Jaws painted great whites as deliberate man-eaters. Ryan argues that many attacks are tragic cases of mistaken identity rather than targeted hunting of humans.
Data from the Taronga Conservation Society back that up. Since 1791, Australia has recorded roughly 1,200 shark attacks, with 255 fatal bites. Great whites are linked to 94 of those cases, a small number compared with the amount of time people spend in the water along Australia’s vast coastline.
Most great white bites on surfers are believed to be “test bites”, driven by curiosity and misidentification rather than a taste for human flesh.
A new generation of shark-smart gear
The Macquarie team now plans to turn their experimental rigs into real products. They are working on compact LED kits that could be built into surfboards, paddleboards, and kayaks.
Ryan, who surfs herself, stresses that ease of use will decide whether the idea leaves the lab.
- The system must be light enough not to affect performance.
- Battery life has to cover long surf sessions.
- The electronics need sealing against saltwater and impacts.
- Controls should be simple: ideally, a single button or automatic activation.
If manufacturers can integrate the lights cleanly into new boards, they could become as standard as a leash or fins for many ocean users.
Moving away from lethal shark control
LED boards point towards a less aggressive way to manage shark risk. Australia currently relies on a mix of technologies and physical barriers along some beaches:
| Method | How it works | Main drawback |
|---|---|---|
| Shark nets | Mesh curtains set offshore to entangle large sharks | High bycatch of turtles, dolphins and harmless sharks |
| Drumlines and tagging | Baited hooks and tags to track movements and trigger alerts | Can kill sharks and alter their behaviour |
| Drones and patrols | Visual spotting of sharks near popular beaches | Limited by weather, daylight and staff |
An LED system on the surfer’s own equipment shifts the focus from controlling sharks to changing how humans appear in shark habitat. That makes it less invasive and less damaging to marine ecosystems.
Instead of removing sharks from the water, the LEDs aim to remove the confusion that makes a surfer look like prey.
Will it work on other shark species?
So far, tests have centred on great whites. That leaves a big question: what about tiger sharks or bull sharks, which are also involved in serious incidents with humans?
Each species hunts differently. Tiger sharks often scavenge and are more opportunistic. Bull sharks use murky coastal waters and estuaries, where visibility is even worse. Their visual systems and behaviour differ from great whites, so they may not react the same way to light patterns.
The Macquarie team plans further trials on other species and in different water conditions. Clear ocean water off South Africa is one thing; silt-heavy surf near river mouths is another. The angle of the sun, cloud cover and wave height all change how silhouettes appear from below.
What “mistaken identity” means in practice
When scientists say sharks mistake surfers for seals, they are talking about split-second judgements. A great white may detect splashing, sense electrical signals from muscles, then glimpse a vague outline above. In that moment it gambles on a bite.
If the first contact feels wrong — too bony, too small, no thick layer of blubber — the shark often lets go. Many survivors report a single bite and release. That pattern supports the idea that the shark realises its error mid-attack.
By intervening earlier, at the visual stage, LEDs try to stop that first bite from happening at all. They do not change the shark, they change the target.
What surfers should still understand about risk
Even if LED boards reach the market, no single tool will remove danger completely. Surfing always involves natural risks: rips, rocks, crowds, and wildlife.
For anyone heading into shark-prone waters, common-sense measures still matter:
- Avoid surfing at dawn and dusk, when many predators hunt.
- Stay away from river mouths after heavy rain, when visibility is low.
- Do not surf near seal colonies or schools of baitfish.
- Keep groups tight; isolated surfers present a clearer target.
An LED-equipped board could sit alongside shark-spotting programmes, real-time alerts from tagged animals, and education campaigns. Together, these layers of protection can lower the odds without demonising an apex predator that plays a key role in healthy oceans.
From lab tests to real-life lineups
If the technology proves reliable, you can imagine a near-future scene at Bondi, Byron Bay or Huntington Beach: boards stacked in the sand, each quietly glowing underneath while their owners stretch onshore.
Rental shops could offer LED-ready boards by the hour. Manufacturers might advertise “shark-smart” models for families or travelling surfers. Kayak and stand-up paddleboard makers are also watching closely, since their craft produce similar silhouettes to surfboards from a shark’s point of view.
There will be debates around cost, real-world effectiveness and whether lights attract other species. Long-term field data will matter more than early lab and trial results. Yet for many surfers who already check the shark report before paddling out, the chance to look a little less like a seal is an appealing prospect.
Originally posted 2026-02-24 09:18:43.